Council Resolution on simplifying the cross-border deployment of undercover officers in order to step up Member States’ cooperation in the fight against serious cross-border crime

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Brussels, 19 April 2007

6678/1/07

REV 1 LIMITE CRIMORG 39 NOTE from : Presidency to : Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime

No. prev. doc.: 16936/1/06 REV 1 CRIMORG 204

Subject : Council Resolution on simplifying the cross-border deployment of undercover officers in order to step up Member States’ cooperation in the fight against serious cross-border crime

This note aims to work towards the enhancement of efficient cooperation between member states’ cross-border undercover officers, which can be made difficult by legal constraints due to often considerable variations in law in member states.

Current rules do not address the need for spontaneous cross-border deployment; no bilateral agreements between member states are in force, and states may have no time to negotiate an agreement. Not all member states guarantee to protect an undercover officer’s identity. A future legal instrument should ensure that an undercover officer is treated as a national undercover officer in the event of cross-border deployment. Cross-border efficiency could be enhanced through the secondment of undercover officers to other member states. Operational cover is currently often legally impossible, and yet could be of paramount importance to the success of an operation.

The new legislative instrument should address issues such as the criteria for the deployment of undercover officers, the principle of dual criminality, procedural rules concerning cross-border deployment, the use of intelligence obtained, and the impact of national legislation and possible harmonisation in such cases.

Source : Statewatch

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Council Resolution on simplifying the cross-border deployment of undercover officers in order to step up Member States’ cooperation in the fight against serious cross-border crime